AKC Agility Invitational wrap up

Lonya and I were invited to the AKC Agility Invitational, and we went Dec 16-18. It was the first “big” event that either of us had been to (UKC’s Premier wasn’t nearly this big!). I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, since I knew that Lonya would be one of the youngest dogs there, and one of the more inexperienced ones too. To get Lonya qualified this year, we only needed a single MACH point, due to there not being many Mudi running at that level. But, I had to get Lonya from Novice to Ex B in about 9 months, which was no easy feat…especially since I didn’t want to do anything to place too much stress or pressure on her.

Friday, our warmup run was FAST, but we (like 95% of the other teams) didn't attempt to do the send, but instead, just ran it with our dogs. I was VERY happy with how Lonya ran. There was an issue at the start gate, that had them calling for me to go in next, then wait, then go, then not...which stressed me out. Lonya was already stressed as she doesn't care for all the commotion around the gate. She was actually shaking when I carried her into the ring...so I wasn't sure what to expect! But, once we got in and I set her up on the line, she went to work and did her job! We did have a bobble on the weaves, she missed the entry and I fixed that, but I didn't fix it when she popped out at pole 10. I didn't want to stress her out. The rest of the run was beautiful (though she did cut behind me at the end, but did take the jump I wanted!). I was glad to see that she recovered from her stress so quickly!

Saturday was an EARLY day. We started at 6AM, and they were still running at 5PM when I left. We started with Standard. We had a few bobbles, at the weaves and she ran around a couple of jumps (though I did fix them, so we would at least get a score). She was a little stressed going into the ring, but not quite as bad as yesterday. Some shaking, but not as much.

JWW was a tough course (I had thought STD was pretty straight forward). Lonya was much better as we waited to go into the ring, no shaking. She seemed to be getting used to it. Lonya was clean this run, and she really had to work at it, since my handling left a lot to be desired!! I almost ran into the double...but she fixed my errors. I was so very very proud of my little girl after this run, she's running clean in the "big time".

Sunday was a LONG day, after another early start.. We stayed to watch the agility finals, which were fantastic (such energy!).

Lonya seemed a bit out of sorts Sunday AM, not sick, just a bit mopey. So, I wasn't quite sure what we'd do that day. She was more relaxed around the rings though, while waiting our turn to go (no shaking at all). JWW was a nice course and Lonya ran clean again. She almost came out of the weaves, but stayed in and ran the rest of the course well, even though I didn't run it at all like I walked it!

During Standard, it was LOUD in the area. The dock diving dogs were blaring music and the agility loudspeakers were competing with that. When I had Lonya on the line, I don't think she heard my release and ran with me instead of doing the jump. I really felt like I was having to shout for her to hear me at all, and we had a couple of more bobbles. But, again, I was very happy that she worked through it and she ran the ending fast and happy.

We ended up 72 out of 130 16" teams, not bad for the first big competition for either of us. Lonya didn't knock a bar, miss a contact or take an off course all weekend. I'm so very happy with how well she did, it was a great weekend for us! The support from all of our friends, both in person and those watching the results come in from the computer meant a lot to me.

I hope to attend the Invitationals again next year, and I hope that we have a full slate of Mudi there running! The site was nice, and I know that they’re looking at what improvements can be made for next year (hopefully they’ll move those dock diving dogs!!)

Day 2 of Pasco Paws CPE

We had a great day yesterday at Pasco Paws. The girls were just great! We had 6 runs, and we had 6 Q's!

Lonya was entered in Level 4 Jackpot, Level 3 Standard and Level 3 Snooker. Jackpot was non-traditional though there still was a distance challenge. There was a box, with a jump on each side, a couple of feet or so out. You could do the "gamble" at any time during your run. You and the dog had to enter the box, and you had to send the dog out to 3 or 4 jumps (3 for 20 points, 4 for 25 points). The dog had to take each jump from the "box side" and no backjumping allowed. Backjumping ended the gamble, though if you knocked a bar, you could still try for 3 to get 20 points, you just negated getting 25 points. Lonya was fantastic! She did the gamble with no problem and ended up with one of the highest point totals of all the 4/5/C dogs! The horn sounded with 20 seconds left to give you a warning, and we ended the run with 6 seconds to spare...I could have gotten some more points! LOL It sure is different to not have to worry about points in the speed games! She Q'd with a 1st.

Level 3 Standard was nice. I did a poorly timed rear cross at a tunnel and pushed her off it. She came back to do it though, and the rest was really nice! She was moving, out in front of me for much of it! She Q'd with a 1st place, ran it in 38.08 seconds, course time was 59.

Level 3 Snooker was also fun. We did 2, 7, 7 (again, fun to try for higher points rather than shorter distance for a slower dog). She did it with only a slight bobble when she wanted to go to the table, but was well under time. She got 46 points, again, one of the higher totals of the 3/4/5/C dogs! :-)

Sparrow ran in Jackpot, Standard and FullHouse. All level 5. Jackpot was the same course as Lonya above. Sparrow had a slightly bobble on the 1st send, but then figured out what I wanted! She did refuse the second Aframe I asked her to do, but still had plenty of points. She Q'd with 49 points for a 2nd place.

Standard was alright, she was a little pokey, but it was warm for her at that point. Sparrow also knows that when we're in that ring at Pasco Paws, that we always exit at the same side, and it can be hard to keep her going if the course is set up have a part that Sparrow thinks could be the end. In this case, it was a jump that was the final jump (so had the timers set on it), but that we also took about 5 obstacles from the end. Sparrow saw the timers and when we took it the first time, she was trotting over to her leash! She did turn back to finish the course, but she was pretty sure I was wrong... She Q'd for a second place.

And FullHouse... I was really stressing about how I was going to get her enough points, since I didn't think the course was a good one for a slower dog. I typically try to not do contacts in FH, since she can be slow on them (though I will use the teeter, she's faster there). But, to do this one, I felt I needed to do the Aframe twice to get the points. And even then, I was worried she'd be too slow. Sparrow proved me wrong! She was VERY pumped up before we entered the ring. It had cooled down, and she was doing the bucking, bowing, growling thing that she does when she's feeling frisky. At the start line, she went into a play bow and we took off. She ran fast for her, and got all the points with some to spare. She did poop out a bit on me at the end, but it was great to see her have so much fun! Several people commented on how fast she was on that run. She Q'd with 30 points for a 3rd place.

I was very happy with the girls all weekend. Lonya was having fun, and worked well through her stress. And Sparrow when she Q'd and placed, was placing over other dogs! FullHouse yesterday, she took 1st (she got 34 points), and about 6 dogs Q'd! CPE is really a great venue for Sparrow, and we'll continue to play there as long as she's having fun.

Videos...

Pasco Paws, Day 1 of CPE

Okay, trying to be better about the blog (I know I said that before....)

This weekend we have a CPE trial, Friday and Saturday. I chose CPE over an AKC trial this weekend as a warm up for the Invitational because it's more laid back and less stressful for me (and to be honest, we usually have a pretty good success rate there, so it's reinforcing for me too!)

Sparrow had 3 runs, Jackpot, Standard and FullHouse, all level 5. She only Q'd in FullHouse, but the others were not her fault. Jackpot she ran a great opening, and the send was totally doable for her, but I was not in the correct position and sent her to the wrong entrance of a tunnel. Standard, I knocked over the double as we ran by it, it was not the correct obstacle and we hadn't taken it yet. I thought that was an automatic NQ, but turns out it wasn't! But, because it was hot (for Sparrow) I didn't fix the end when Sparrow pulled off of a jump, so that NQ'd us. We may have been over time anyway, but still...I felt bad for not fixing the error! FullHouse had a really nice, easy course for her, no contacts, no sharp turns, just 2 oval loops. And, it was cooler by then, so she was happy. I didn't stay for the results, but I doubt that she placed (unless there were less than 4 dogs in her class!)

Lonya also had 3 runs, Jackpot (level 3), Standard (level 2) and Jumpers (level 3). Jackpot was fun, though there was an error with our time (which I'm not sure how they sorted out, they didn't ask me...and we got our Q so I didn't really care!). We were out there for a LONG time though, I ran out of things to do. But, she got the send with no problem, it was similar to Sparrow's, and I positioned myself better. She was VERY excited at the end, and almost jumped over me instead of the normal leap into my arms. Q with a 1st. That was her last Q needed in Level 3, on to Level 4 tomorrow. Standard was easy, Level 2 is well below her current competition level. It was a smooth course, that she ran in about 1/2 of the allotted course time. Q with a 1st. That was her last Level 2 Q, so on to Level 3 tomorrow! Jumpers was...interesting! She got spooked before going into the ring. Best I can figure, is that there were more men around then usual and she didn't like that! She had fixated on the leash runner (who was male) before entering the ring, so I adjusted my handling a bit. I was VERY happy that she continued with the run, dealing with her stress and not shutting down. It was a beautiful run until the last jump. I changed my path to put myself between her and the leash runner...but didn't realize that she'd then notice the male ring crew right there and shy away from him. Once I got on that side of the jump, she took it for a Q and a 2nd.

I put her new Thundershirt on Lonya after giving her some treats after her Jumpers run and took her back by the Jumpers ring. Not close enough to distract the other dogs, but just to walk her near the leash runner and the ring crew. While she wasn't thrilled, she stayed by my side and after the second pass, her tail went up. And she went up and sniffed the ring crew that spooked her in the run, happy with that. (Interesting note...the ring crew was a person we don't see very often...but who was wearing a rain jacket, watching right outside the ring at one of Lonya's first ever runs (also in Jumpers now that I think about it!) Lonya stopped her run to bark at him then...that was at least a year ago, maybe more. I don't think she could have remembered that, but who knows! I'm just glad she was still able to "work" while a little stressed).

Videos hopefully will be edited tomorrow...

IPOC weekend

The IPOC weekend had some good parts and some not so good parts!

On Friday, Lonya was in a "need to tunnel" mode, and took a few extras! She even cut behind me at one point to take a tunnel...naughty girl! In her JWW run, she ran really nice, between the two off course tunnels!

Saturday, I didn't do well. In Standard, I pulled her out of the weave poles at pole 11, when there was no good reason to do so! I had plenty of room to turn her AFTER she was through with the poles, but I turned too early and caused her to pop out. It was her only error on a course that had dog after dog crashing and burning....I was so mad at myself! Her JWW run was just a mess, my fault. But she did her poles!

Sunday, we finally got it together and meshed and she Q'd in Standard. I had to do a hard call off a tunnel, but she listened! We got 14 MACH points and were in 5th place (again!). It's exciting to me that we're on the cusp of placing in Excellent B! Her JWW run was very nice, though she DIDN'T take a tunnel that I thought she would! I have video online of her Sunday runs

This weekend was more laid back. Agility and flyball classes were cancelled so we didn't do much. I did take Lonya to a flyball tournament on Saturday AM to hang out for a bit. She was a bit overwhelmed at first, but she settled pretty quickly. She wanted to play I think, hopefully we'll be in the lanes soon!

We have agility next weekend!

Catching up...again!

It's been a while!  I made it through the 1 year "anniversary" of losing Kal-El...still can't believe he's been gone for that long.  I still miss that damn dog every day...and still cry over him.  Sigh....

Lonya and I are doing really well in agility, and she's really coming along in flyball.  I'm too lazy to try to post the reports from the trials I've missing blogging about, but will post the videos.  I just want to get back on track, since we're entering our busier time for trialing and want to try to keep up!

Lonya got her AX on September 25,  in Ocala.




Then October 14, I did one day of CPE with Lonya and Sparrow, both Q'd 2 out of 3.



Then, on Oct 15-16, I did 2 days of AKC with Lonya.  Her first try at FAST (which she rocked!) AND my little girl got her first QQ towards her MACH.  She QQ'd the first weekend she was able to...and in doing so, tied Kal for the dog I've trialed that has the most QQ's...  I do hope (and believe) that she will be my MACH dog.



There...at least I've posted the videos, now, let's see if I keep this up over the 3 days of IPOC!

Kal-El's memorial video

I first heard this song in December of last year, and I knew that I wanted to use it to make a video about Kal-El.  But, I had to wait until I was mentally ready to do it.  And, I had to get some VHS converted to DVD (Walmart does this, and the resulting DVD is very user friendly) and I had some photos to get off "floppy" disks.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think it shows the dog that Kal-El was, a clown, a gentle giant, and a devoted companion.

Having lost 2 dogs in very different ways, so close together...I think it was MUCH "easier" to lose Cheyenne.  I had time to prepare, I had time to say goodbye, I had time to make sure she did the things she enjoyed one more time, and I had time to accept that I was going to lose her.  I think I've healed quite a bit from losing her.  I do think the fact that she was old helped too.

I'm still not over losing Kal-El.  It was just too sudden, too soon, and I didn't get to do his favorite things one last time.  And he just wasn't old enough...  But, making his video helped.  And I really was happy to see him as a puppy again, God he was cute!  I do miss having a shepherd boy....not for a few more years...

The power of one little dog....

When I sit down and think about the people who are my friends, both those who I consider good friends and those who I only know in passing...I realize that most of you I know through my dogs.  And I'm sure many of you knew Kal-El and you know Sparrow and Lonya.  Cheyenne wasn't quite as "well known" as my other dogs...but without Cheyenne, I'm not sure that I'd know many of you at all...people who I think of as my good friends...I owe that all to the little dog that someone threw away.

I first saw Cheyenne as I was leaving work, right after the 4th of July, limping around the parking lot at Moody Gardens, in Galveston Texas.  She looked pitiful, and I scrounged through my lunch bag to see if I had anything that she might eat.  The only thing I had were some oatmeal cookies, which I tossed at her.  The next day, she was still there, so after my shift, I bought a hot dog at the concession stand and went to find her.  She was under a construction trailer and I tossed her little bits of hot dog.  She gradually moved closer to me, until she would very tentatively take a bit from my outstretched fingers, then dart back.  The next day, my day off, I went to the trailer with some of Akela's dog food.  I tossed some of that to her, but she wasn't overly excited about it (some of the other people at work had been feeding her too..and hotdogs are better than kibble!).  I asked my co-workers to not feed her anymore that day or the next, and told them I'd be back to try to catch her tomorrow.   I walked back across the parking lot to my truck and about halfway there, I happened to turn back...and saw that the scrawny little dog was following me, though at a distance.  I wandered around the parking lot (must have looked like a fool), and she gradually got closer...I was talking to her the whole time, just babbling.  Finally, she was within a couple of feet of me, but I didn't want to risk grabbing her, so I decided to open the passenger door to my truck and ask her to get in.  To my surprise, she got in and jumped up on the seat...she had made her choice!  I was a little uncertain, since I now had this dog who I hadn't touched yet, in my truck!!  But, when I got in and sat down, she looked at me, slightly wagged her tail and didn't bite me when I reached to pet her.

Skinny Cheyenne, right after I caught her

I did take her to the humane society, to see if she had been reported missing (though given her condition, I was pretty sure she hadn't been).  No one had reported her missing, and I left a description of her there, but took her home with me.  After about a month or so of fostering her, I knew she was there to stay!

Cheyenne chasing Kal-El

Chey was very underweight when I got her and it appeared that her tail had been broken at some point (it was kinked) and one of her rear feet was all scarred up.  She would bite if she was afraid, and she taught me how to read those signs and back off.  People who knew her later in life, never seemed to believe that she actually had a bite history...nothing "serious", but it was there.

Cheyenne and Simon, best friends

I started in a basic agility class, after I moved to Florida, to see if it would give Cheyenne some confidence, since she had trust issues with people.  Never in a million years did I plan to compete with her, I was way too self conscious for that.  And there would be a bunch of people I didn't know at a competition, and they may actually watch me...no, not for me.

Agility changed my life, and that's all due to Cheyenne.  Chey took to agility like it was something that she'd always done.  She was a natural...I've often said that I wish I had Cheyenne later in my agility career, after I knew more.  She was a very good agility dog, I truly believe that if she'd had a handler who knew what they were doing, she would have been great.  But, she didn't care about my crappy handling, she just wanted to play at the sport she loved.   She liked to hang out at trials in her own chair, and would seem to memorize the course as she watched me walk it.

Chey made me love the sport too.  And the more I showed, the more I became part of the agility community here in Florida.  I came out of my shell within that community and it's led to meeting a lot of great people and making a lot of great friends.  And that's all due to a little spaniel mix that no one wanted.

The last weekend of Cheyenne's life was spent at an out of town agility trial.  She seemed to enjoy it, though she did sleep a lot.  But, she was perky when walking around the show site and tried to get into the van on her own.  She always loved to travel, and was such a great dog to travel with, she was so easy.  I had many friends offer to keep her for me, and if I could clone her, I'd make a fortune....since she was also such an easy dog to live with.  She was never sick, never hurt...until the final month when we were dealing with her cancer.  She declined quickly when we got home, as if she just wanted that one last road trip before she left us.  She didn't seem to be in pain, but lost control of her rear legs and couldn't hardly walk.  We spent her last night sitting in the sun and laying in bed watching TV.   She was ready to go I think, she didn't struggle at all.  She left very peacefully, and I hope has rejoined Kal-El and Akela at the Bridge.   I had her for 13 years, and it still wasn't long enough...she was thought to be 1-3 when I found her.

I will forever be indebted to Cheyenne.   I couldn't have asked for a better companion, a better intro dog into agility or a better friend.  Who would have thought one little dog could do SO much?

We'll miss you girl....

It sucks to get old....

Sigh...  Cheyenne has been getting old, well showing her age that is, quite a bit in the last year or so.  She's been deaf for a while, but lately, her arthritis (lower back and hips) has gotten worse and she's lost most of her muscle tone.  A couple of months ago, her appetite started to taper off, but by doing various things (soaking her kibble, changing her type of kibble, etc) I was able to get her to eat.  But, last Sunday, she flat out started refusing to eat at all.  If I put mush on the back of her tongue, she'd mostly swallow it but not because she wanted to.  She'd push a food bowl away, and this is the dog that has always loved to eat...

We went to the vet on Thursday, I was hoping it was a tooth abscess but was worried it was kidney failure.  It was neither.  Blood work showed that it was her liver that was unhappy...the liver values were off the charts.  According to the vet, that would be enough for her to not want to eat.

The most likely cause of the liver damage is cancer, based on how she presented.  In order to know for certain, we would need to do an ultrasound.  She is now on a med to help her liver function better and one to stimulate her appetite.

I'm not sure if I'll go ahead with the ultrasound or not...I don't know that it will change my course of treatment for her.  I will not do chemo on her, or surgery to remove part of the liver.  I don't think she'd survive either.  So, I'm not sure it's worth the high cost (for me at least) of the ultrasound to know for sure that she does have cancer.  The vet really seemed to think that's what it was, but didn't want to say for certain without proof.  But, he was treating me like someone who'd just been given a terminal diagnosis on their pet.

For the most part, Cheyenne is not acting like a sick dog.  She enjoys her time in the yard and getting her butt scratched as I'm sitting at my computer chair.  When I get home, she "runs" down the hall to the back door with the other girls.  This is another reason I'm reluctant to do anything extreme with her.  I'd rather have a month with her this way, than 3-4 of her being miserable recovering from surgery.  As of right now, I do not think she's in any pain at all.

I'm hoping the meds help kick in her appetite, but so far, they haven't.  I am force feeding her twice a day, I'm making her up some gruel and putting in the blender until it's smooth enough to be put in a syringe.  Today, she actually seemed to be cooperating a little bit when I fed her.  But, nothing I offer her to eat on her own gets a reaction...

I'm handling all of this pretty well, considering.  I am sad, there's no doubt about that.  But, Cheyenne has lived a good, long, healthy life and I've known that her time has been coming to an end.  Cheyenne is at least 14, but could be 2-3 years older than that, there's no way of knowing.  She had her adult teeth when I found her, that was about our only judge of age.

I just want her final days to be as pain free as possible, and I want us both to enjoy them as much as we can.

But it still sucks to get old....

UKC weekend

This weekend, Lonya and I had 2 days of UKC agility.  We were entered in 4 runs each day, 2 AG1 and 2 AG2 (they do two trials each day).  Lonya needed 2 AG2 legs for that title, so day one her AG1 runs were just "bonus".  The way UKC agility works is that for the initial titles at level 1 and level 2, you need 3 legs in each one (from the A or B class), with a score of 170 or above (out of 200).  Then, for the UACH (United Agility Champion) title, you have to get 100 total points from AG1 and AG2 in the B class, and you need a minimum of 40 points from each one.  (Confused yet?).  You get 10 points for a perfect 200, 6 for a 199, and down to 1 for a 196.  So basically, you are no longer allowed to make a major error and get any UACH points!

Lonya doesn't do much agility at all indoors or on mats, so this was a good way for her to experience both.  On Saturday, we do both AG1 runs first (they always run them back to back to minimize course changes).  She ran very well, though she did slip a little bit on the mats.  In each run, she had a refusal for a one point deduction (the scoring is very different in UKC too!).  So, she got a 199 in each, and one first and one second place.  Good warm up runs!

In our AG2 runs, she really ran well.  UKC has some equipment that you don't see anywhere else, much of it in AG2 (fortunately, this club offers run thrus the Friday night before so you can practice on it!).  She did most of that well.  In her first run, she missed a weave pole, but did them the second time when I fixed it.  Q for a 3rd ...and leg #2.  In the second run, she had a refusal for a minor deduction, Q for 2nd and leg #3 and her title!

Today, we were running for points.  AG2 was first today.  First run, she popped the last pole, but several dogs did that.  UKC uses 9 poles, so the dogs end on the "wrong" side...I actually debated doing AG2 because of this and her pole issues...but decided that one weekend wouldn't hurt her and I want her to just weave what's in front of her, no matter how many are there.  She got a 195 for a first place, but no UACH points.  Second run, she had another refusal for a 1 point deduction, so got a 199, 6 points and a 1st place.

AG1 was last.  First run was just beautiful, she was fast, accurate and got a perfect 200 for a 1st place!  10 UACH points too.  Second run, she slid off the table for 5 faults, but the rest was clean and FAST (she finished in less than half the course time, even with the table bobble).  She got a 195 and second place.  She had adjusted to the mats really well by this point, she was no longer slipping.

I was really happy with her all weekend.  Before her last AG2 run yesterday, something spooked her and she started out the run stressed.  It only took her a couple of obstacles to settle in to work though, she shook it off pretty quickly.  She was a bit more clingy in the crate area, wanting to sit on my lap.  But, that's fine with me.  People get amused when they see her sacked out on her back in my lap....but the instant I put her down and stand up, she's ready to run (leaping leaping leaping at me).

So, if you're doing the math, in the last two weekends, Lonya was 18 for 18, with 4 new titles!!  Go merlie girlie!

Night two at Pasco Paws

We want to have a trial at Pasco Paws every weekend!  14 runs over 2 nights, and 14 Qs.  Most with placements.  Lonya got 3 new titles!

We started tonight with Lonya running Jackpot.  It was a non traditional Jackpot.  There were 3 distance challenges, and if you did all 3 successfully, you got a pair of fuzzy dice!  The 15 point gamble was jump/tunnel/jump.  The 20 point gamble was jump/aframe/tunnel (could be done in either direction).   The tunnel was under the frame, so you had to do the frame with a turn away from you into the tunnel, or do the tunnel with a turn towards you to do the frame.  The 25 point gamble was a 3 jump pinwheel, could be done in any order, in flow.  I had a fairly good path that would allow us to attempt all 3, I wasn't sure she could do them all, but wanted to try.  With the shepherds, I always was working on just trying to get the points needed, they really didn't have the speed to try the "fun" stuff.   She did the pinwheel pretty well (one bobble that I fixed) and the aframe one went well too.  We had to run across the field to get to the tunnel one, which was easy and she did just fine.  I was a bit worried we'd run out of time, but we raced back across the field to the table and she had several seconds to spare!  She won a purple pair of fuzzy dice!  It was fun to be able to try it, and even more fun to succeed!  It was her second level 3 Q (and a second place).

Next run was snooker.  This was a nicer course than yesterday (for me at least).  We did 1/7/1/6/1/3 then the close.  It was all jumps and tunnels again.  I did have to call her HARD off one tunnel, but she stopped!  The close was smooth and she ended up getting 46 points in 29.33 seconds (course time was 45).  This was her second level 2 Q (first place) and gave her the CL2-S title (Level 2 Strategy).

Next up was Standard.  Sparrow ran first.  It was a pretty straight forward course, at least it seemed so!  But, while watching the dogs before Sparrow run, quite a few took an off course teeter that I didn't notice in the walk through.  Sparrow wasn't overly speedy, but she was clean.  She didn't look at the off course teeter, but I also tried to tell her pretty early where she was going.  She Q'd with a second place.  She ran it in 59.89, course time was 65.

Lonya ran Standard next.  She really ran well, after we got past the weaves (they were obstacle 2).  I think she carried too much speed into them and missed the entry.  It took me a couple of tries to get her set up correctly.  But, once we got those right, she flew through the rest of the course.  She got her second level 2 Q (first place), she ran it in 39.17 (course time 57).

Jumpers was next.  Sparrow ran first.  It was a bit of a twisty to start out with, not Sparrow's favorite.  It did have a nice 4 jump ending though!  Sparrow ran it clean, and she Q'd.  She was just under time, 37.77 seconds, course time was 38.  She got first place, go Sparrow!

Lonya's jumpers course was VERY nice.  We had a slight miscue where she ran around a jump.  She called off a tunnel beautifully though.  She backjumped the jump, but we got back in sync and she ended really nice.  She still got a Level 2 Q though, for another 1st place.  She ran it in 21.89 seconds, well under course time of 36, even with the bobble.  This gave her the last Q needed for her CL2-F title (Level 2 Fun).

Our last run of the weekend was FullHouse for Lonya.  It was a nice smooth course, and Lonya ran it very nicely!  She did decide to end it early though, silly girl!  I told her tunnel, she thought table and went there, stopping our clock!  We still had about 10 seconds left where could have gotten more points!  But, she got 31 points, which got her a Level 3 Q and a first place.  It's fun to run FullHouse where I don't really have to worry about points!

So we ended the weekend, 14 for 14.  Lonya finished 3 titles, and is now in Level 3 for all the games!  Sparrow ran well in the heat/humidity (even though it wasn't TOO bad!).  And Lonya handled a full CPE weekend fantastic!  She was raring to go for every run, high energy and low stress!   And tons of FUN!

Night one at Pasco Paws

I took Sparrow and Lonya to Pasco Paws for a night CPE trial.  Since I wasn't sure how the weather would be, I only entered Sparrow in 2 runs each night.  Standard and whatever game I thought would be shortest (in case it was hot).  This is Lonya's first weekend of running a full set of CPE runs, 5 each day.

Lonya started out in Jackpot, level 3, traditional.  It was a really nice set up in the opening and the distance challenge was very doable.  She knocked one bar in the opening, I think she slipped a bit on wet grass (it had rained a little bit earlier).  She did her poles on the first try!  The gamble was jump, send out to a tunnel, jump, table.  No problems there and Lonya Q'd for her first level 3 Q!  And it was a first!  She got 54 points in 41.64 seconds, game time was 48 sec.

Second run was Wildcard.  I didn't like this course much, I didn't think it flowed well for Lonya (especially the option I chose!).  But, she got through it, including a tough weave entry, and she Q'd for a first again, also in Level 3.  She ran it in 27.32 sec, course time was 40.

Sparrow's Standard run was next.  It was a really nice course, and she ran it with no problems.  Speed was pretty good for her also, and she was happy!  She Q'd and somehow took first!  That's not usual for her.  She ran it in 46.68 seconds, course time was 60.

Lonya's Standard run was next.  Nice course again, and she just smoked it.  A slight bobble on the teeter, where she almost ran by it, but she corrected and got on.  Good contacts and weaves.  She Q'd, in Level 2, for a first.  Course time was 65 seconds, she ran it in 30.67!

Colors was next, Sparrow ran her course first.  She started out great, but I think she jammed a toe in the #3 tunnel.  She went in fast and came out much slower.  This happened to Kal once also.  She finished the course, but was pokey.  I looked her over after the run and she was a little tender on one rear toe.  I'll check her over tomorrow, but she seems fine now.   She Q'd, no placement.  Ran it in 28.95, course time was 32 (she REALLY slowed down!)

Lonya's Colors run was just fantastic!  Smooth course and Lonya was just having a blast tonight!  She ran the course in 13.54 seconds, for a Level 2 Q and another first.  Course time was 39 seconds.  Fun fun fun!  And this gave her the CL2-H (level 2 Handler games) title!

Final run of the night was Level 2 Snooker for Lonya.  This was her first ever Snooker run, since I won't run a young/green dog in snooker.  It was a little bit of a twisty course, and I had a hard time finding a course with flow.  It was all jumps and tunnels, and it took a little bit of work to keep her out of a tunnel or two.  But, she listened well and she Q'd again, for another first place!  She got 40 points, and finished the course in 25.87 seconds, course time was 45 seconds.

So, we ended up Q'ing in all 7 runs, with 6 first places!  And we get to go back tomorrow!

Miss Lonya is going to the Invitational!!

Last weekend, Lonya and I had 3 days of AKC agility, at the new rings at SonLight Ranch (AKA BonJon, not sure we'll get used to the name change!).   The new grass rings are WONDERFUL.  Very flat, great grass (even though Bonnie said the grass would get better as it got more established).  And all the contacts had new rubber.  Great site, and since it's so close to home, I hope it gets a lot of use!

I went into the weekend hoping Lonya would get 1 JWW leg, if that's the only Q we got, I'd be happy!  We're still having weave struggles a bit, so I was a bit worried.

Friday, she had a nice start to JWW, then came out of the poles at 11.  I did have her redo them, when she did. She had some nice sends, and knocked a bar when she was racing to catch up to me (which I know she has a history of doing).  And I knocked a bar when I hit an upright on a cross.  Standard, she really didn't want to do her weaves on the first try, but she did.  She got all her contacts (has been very good at that recently!) and we got our first AX leg!  So I ended the day happy...but hoping she'd have another set of poles in her for the weekend.  I did stay after the trial for run thrus, and I think that helped!

Saturday, JWW was first again.  It was a nice course, and the weaves were near the start.  She got them first try, though slowly!  She ran the rest of the course really well, even with me being nervous and overhandling!  We crossed the final jump clean and you'd have thought we MACH'd, instead of just getting our first points!  I was SO happy, as were my friends who knew we were running for the Invitational.   She got 9 points, which is enough for us to get invited this year!  Standard was nice, she missed pole #3, I think she carried too much speed into them.  She did get them on the second try.

Sunday, STD was first.  LOVELY run, which I wish we had gotten on video.  Her poles were faster, and she really worked well.  She swung wide out of the chute and was set up really wide for the last line of jumps.  She had to really try to make those jumps, and she did.  Q #2 for her AX, 25 seconds under course time!  JWW, she missed the weave entry (it was tough), but did them all once I fixed it.  Really nice course otherwise though.

So, she ended the weekend 3 for 6, qualifying for the Invitational and getting as much progress make on her AX as she could (since it was only one judge all weekend).

We're off for a bit, but will do one CPE in July, maybe one UKC.  And hopefully some AKC in Aug!

Here's the video of the 2 Q's I have, JWW first, then Standard.

Palmetto trial

Lonya and I had 3 days of AKC agility this weekend.  It was a weekend of weave frustrations and lots of improvements.  I need to remember to focus on the improvements and not let myself be frustrated by the weave issue!  Hard to do...

The weave issue was that she is pulling out of the poles at pole 10-11.  This cost us 5 Qs out of 6 runs this weekend!  In some of those runs, she did make another error after the poles, when I'd try a harder cross or just get flustered.  I "think" I may be crowding her...though I couldn't reproduce it at home.  I'm going to try to take her weaves on the road this next couple of weeks to see what she does.

The improvements.  First, the multiple runs where there was only 1 error!  She is RIGHT there to Qing regularly in Excellent.  She is 2.5 years old and ready to Q in Excellent!

She was MUCH more relaxed walking around the trial site.  It was crowded (biggest trial we've been to).  I watched her closely when were walking around and her tail was up.  Dropping her tail is a first sign of stress for her, tucking it is definite stress.  She went up to people and let them pet her.  People she's met before mostly, but still, this is big for her.  She was able to wait near the ring, not right next to it, but near.  She even walked into the ring on her own a time or two.  And when I carried her in, I asked her to jump up, I don't remember her asking to be picked up.  I always ask for the leap into my arms at the end of a run, but I could put her down to get her leash on and she didn't ask to be picked back up.  Very happy with all that!

Standard was TONS better.  I was more firm, but after the first day, I didn't notice I was overly so.  She only ran by one obstacle in Standard, the teeter on Sunday.  I could see her make the effort to turn back in to take something I asked when she thought she was going somewhere else.  And she called off several tunnels.

We trial again in 2 weeks, then again the week after that (if we "need" to).  I really would like to make the Invitational, but if we don't make it this year, we'll be there next year!  I still am impressed that such a young dog is doing so well, so quickly.  I think it's only because we ARE so close, that I really really want to go this year...Lonya deserves it.

Updates

Once again, I've been slacking off on the blog!

A few weeks ago, Lonya got her AXJ at a trial in Palmetto.  This was her first time there, and I was pleased overall with how she did.  It was crowded, but she really didn't stress very much at all.  Her JWW run for her Q was nice, but unfortunately, I didn't get it on video!  Her other JWW runs were okay, she had weave issues all weekend and I caused an error or two!  Standard is still a struggle.  Her last run of the weekend, I got a little firmer with her and she settled in to work...I think I may be so worried about her stressing that she's getting away with only having to do what she wants...  We trial 3 days next weekend, so we'll see what happens if I'm more firm with her.

Then, Lonya came into heat, so I had to pull her from a trial, which meant I could enter Sparrow in a CPE trial and run her for her C-ATCH.  I was a bit worried about the heat, but didn't want to put it off.  We ran in 3 runs each night.  Night one, we ran in WildCard, Snooker and Jackpot.  She Q'd in all 3, which gave her the last Jackpot Q she needed for her C-ATCH.  It was non-traditional, and was set up well for Sparrow.  I'm a big fan of jump combos for 5 points!  You had to do the obstacles labelled 2, 4, 6, and 8 in order, but could do other things in between.

The second night, our first run of the trial was Jumpers...the last thing we needed for her C-ATCH.  It was warm, and I was nervous.  But, she ran well, even if it was a bit slow.  We were under time though and she Qd for her C-ATCH!  I was so happy that she got it, she's been running so well in the last few months.  I handled it pretty well too, I only cried a little bit.  I really wanted Sparrow's C-ATCH to be about her, and not about the missed opportunity with Kal...and I think I succeeded at that.  My friends who were there were very supportive and happy for us also.  And the ribbon she got was huge!!  We also ran in Colors for a Q and Jackpot for an NQ (she got the distance, but was 1 point shy of minimum in the opening!)

The video of her C-ATCH runs is here.



We didn't do much of a victory lap, since it was hot, but she was very happy at the end!

Today, I went to a handling seminar with Lonya.  She worked pretty well, even though it was hot and she's still a bit hormonal.  She was a bit slower than normal, but I still learned a lot!  We have a few things to work on...tunnel/contact descriminations, working the back side of the jump among others.

We have a trial next weekend, where I really hope to get a JWW Q....and our ticket to the Invitational!

Pasco Paws CPE, Day 3

Today was our last day out of Pasco Paws.  It was cooler out today, which was nice!  I didn't even have to pull out the fan.  Sparrow was 3 for 4 today, for a weekend total of 11 for 12!  I think this is the best weekend she's ever had at a trial!

Our first run today was Colors.  One course included the Aframe, the other didn't.  Usually, I wouldn't have her do a contact in Colors, due to the time it takes her to do them.  But, today, I really thought the course with the Aframe was the better one.  It had a better weave entry (both courses used weaves) and it was one obstacle shorter.  She ran it pretty well, it was pretty short and sweet.  She Q'd for second place.

Next up was Standard.  It was serpentine heavy, again!  She really seemed to be getting over doing serps!  She popped out of the weaves at the 10th pole, so we redid them.  We probably would have been over time due to this, but I didn't really check it...since she NQd on the next to last obstacle.  It was a tunnel/Aframe discrimination and she took the tunnel instead of the Aframe.  I guess she was due to NQ at some point!

Next up was Jumpers.  This was, to me, the run where I most wanted her to Q.  Again, serpentines and 180s.  Sparrow was really done with them at this point, and really slowed as she was being turned back and forth.  Bless her for continuing on.  She did finish the run well, and while she was a couple of seconds over time, she still was able to Q for 3rd place.

Last up was Snooker.  This was a difficult course for me to decide what to do.  I knew Sparrow was tired, so I wanted to try to find a course that was relatively smooth, but had her covering as little real estate as possible.  I tried many different paths in the walk through, decided on one, only to discard it after watching some other people!  I ended up running a path I hadn't walked, and while I was a little late with some of my handling, Sparrow did well and was actually got through the 7 in the closing!  She Q'd for a second.

We went into the weekend needed 11 legs for her C-ATCH.  We ended the weekend making as much progress as was possible for us, knocking out 9 of those legs!  (And earning 2 legs toward her C-ATCH2).  Sparrow only needs 1 Jumpers Q and 1 Jackpot Q now.  Not sure when our next CPE trial will be, May (if Lonya comes into heat and I have to pull her from the AKC trial) or July.

Video being uploaded now...I'll post it later!

Pasco Paws CPE, Day 2

Sparrow had another great day at Pasco Paws, even though it was warm out again.  We did have a breeze though, so that helped a lot!  Sparrow was 4 for 4 again, another perfect day!

Our first run was Jackpot, non traditional this time.  There were several rules, but basically, there were 3 gambles you could do (for 15, 20 or 25 points).  If you failed at the first gamble you tried (unless you did the hardest one), you couldn't attempt another one.  If you did the first gamble you tried, you could try another, or just run for points.  The 15 point gamble was a serpentine of 3 jumps, which should have been easy!  Sparrow missed the second jump though, where she was supposed to jump back towards me.  So, without crossing the line, I had to get her to go around to the BACK side of the jump and take it towards me.  After a little coaxing (and some play bowing by Sparrow), she actually did eventually go around to the back and take the jump towards me, and we finished that gamble.  But, that took a lot of time, and she once again jumped her dogwalk contact...so we were way short on points when the buzzer rang telling us we had 18 seconds to get to the table.  So, I decided to try the 20 point gamble, which was a tunnel, jump, a-frame and jump.  She did it without any trouble, but then saw her leash and ran to in instead of going to the table!  After a second or two of me calling her, she finally got on the table.  Course time was 48 seconds, she did it in about 47.5!  The judge actually came over to check to see if she made time, and commented "wow, she actually got it!"  She got 4th.

After Jackpot, Sparrow was very jazzed up so we played for a few minutes.  She was play bowing, growling, bucking and just having an all around good time.  A little of it was caught on video, so I'll include it when I edit the videos (probably tomorrow)

Next was Standard.  It was a nicer course for us than yesterday's was.  She ran pretty well, though she thought it was a little warm!  She was really slow over the dog walk, but hit the contact.  She also thought we were done right before the weaves, so it took a second or two to get her in them.  But, she was the only 20" level 5 dog to run clean, so she took 1st place there.

Next was Colors.  This judge REALLY likes serpentines!  One of the color options had a serpentine, and that was the option I choose.  I didn't like the other option, as it had both spread jumps in a path that I thought risked them being knocked.  It was a pretty steady run, pokey but she got it done!  She did like the 3 jump straight ending.  She Q'd for 4th.

Last run today was FullHouse.  Sparrow was a little tired it seemed, but she still worked well.  I was the only one I saw who ran my path, which isn't unusual!  With Sparrow, I need to minimize the real estate we cover while trying to get the most points we can.  (The downfall of running a slower dog! But, she rarely knocks bars, which is nice!)  We ran the course I planned, with one extra jump.  I was happy with how well she ran and she Q'd, but no placement.  This will be a Q used for her C-ATCH2!

One more day tomorrow, it's supposed to be a little cooler.  And, no "speed" classes tomorrow...

Pasco Paws CPE, Day 1

Sparrow and I have CPE this weekend.  Lonya's staying home, I have to manage my entry costs and right now my focus with Lonya is AKC and the Invitational.

We did 4 runs today (and will do so each day).  First was Jackpot.  It was a traditional Jackpot, with a pretty decent path in the opening for Sparrow to get enough points...unfortunately, Sparrow had other plans!  She was feeling pretty happy, and decided to take the dogwalk instead of a tunnel, so I had to adjust my plan.  She didn't help by leaping over the down contact on it!  We struggled a bit, but managed to get just enough points in the opening (well, 1 over the minimum needed).  She got the send bonus without any really trouble, she actually has pretty decent distance work.  She Q'd for 4th place.

Standard was next.  The course was VERY tricky, with twisty parts and a tough weave entry.  Sparrow was slow (it had gotten hotter), but she ran it without any errors.  We were just under time, and she was the only 20" level 5 dog to qualify, so she got 1st place.

Jumpers was next.  It was a nice course (would have loved to run it with Kal, I think he would have liked it), but not Sparrow's type of course.  There were 2 serpentines, which aren't her favorite.  She knocked the triple, which made her a bit worried as she doesn't like to knock bars.  It took me a little bit to get her back running happy, but she did come back.  She did both serpentines well, and didn't make any other errors.  She Q'd with a 3rd place.

Full House was last, and I wasn't sure how we'd do.  The course layout was pretty good for us, but it was hot, esp for Spar!  Sparrow ran with decent speed considering the temperature, and we ran the entire course I planned with time to spare!  She Q'd with a 4th place.

I really tried to do a lot to make sure I could keep Sparrow cool enough between runs, since she really doesn't like the heat.  The temp today was in the mid 80s, not untolerable but warm for her.   I think it worked...  She had 2 cool mats in her crate, her cool coat, and a fan.  I had 2 more fans in the van that I didn't need to use.  I got to the site early so I could get a good spot to crate that would stay shaded all day.  And, last night, I shaved her belly and chest.  I think it worked, since she wouldn't pant for more than a few minutes after I put her away.

Palm Bay Agility Club trial

Okay, got caught up on "old" trials, so here's the report from this weekend.   We were in Vero Beach for 2 days, two warm days!  Glad to say that Lonya will work well in the heat.  No videos, I don't know a lot of people well in Vero and those that I do have dogs in Lonya's class.

Standard yesterday was okay.  It was a really nice course, very doable.  She missed a weave pole and ran around a jump.  But, she did all her contacts and the table.  I made sure to tell her to do them, not mean...but firm.  No issues (either day).  JWW was a very tricky course.  I watched the big dogs run (before us) and dog after dog crashed and burned on it.  She missed a cross and ran around a jump, and missed a pole again.  But, she did have to really work to take some jumps that I didn't position her correctly for, which is nice to see.  Some of them it definitely would have been easier for her to just run around.

Standard today was okay (seems to be our norm for now!).  Again, she did her contacts and she got her weaves.  Some squirrelyness in between.  JWW was fantastic!  She didn't Q, but it was one of those runs where the Q didn't really matter.  She was on and really ran well.  She dropped a bar when I rear crossed and said her name to make sure she turned.  My fault!  So, I tried a trickier approach to the weaves, which she did great!  And she had a couple of really nice rear crosses later in the course (we worked on them in class this week).  Her  time was 9 seconds under course time, even with one really wide turn.

Lonya loves Jumpers right now.  She definitely seems to love her "job".  She's handling the stress better, though I do still carry her in to the ring most times, and always carry her out.  It's part of our ritual now, and I like it (and she seems to also!)

I do think that some of her weave issues are caused by my poles at home.  I have 22" spacing and most everywhere has 24" spacing in their trials.  She is in the high 90% range on hitting her entries, but will skip a pole at about 7-8, which I think is when the difference in spacing catches up with her.  A friend has a welder friend who makes 24" bases (and channels to boot!) at a great price, so that's where some of my tax refund is going.  Not sure if my theory is right, but I may as well train how we trial!

Updates on Lonya

I've missed a few trial updates...so here they are (I do like having them all in one place!)   I am cheating again with the first couple of updates, copying from emails I sent!  


March 19-20--Mid Florida Dalmatian Club trial in Brooksville

Lonya and I had 2 days of agility this weekend also, in warm and sunny Brooksville FL.  I wasn't too sure how this weekend would go, as I was sick going into it (and went to Urgent Care after we got home today and have bronchitis and tonsillitis, yippee!).

I made a video of 3 of the runs, located here: 

The first one was our 1 Q of the weekend, in Excellent A JWW.  I did not handle this run very well, I was way overmanaging her.  Partly because it was a tricky course, but mostly because I couldn't quite remember where we were going!  When I came out of the ring, I told my friend who was taping (but didn't really know the course), "I'm not sure if I ran the right course, but she did everything I asked her to do!"  I had to wait to see the score sheet to know that she Q'd. 

The second run on the tape is JWW from today.  She ran this REALLY nice as well, there was a lot of "handling" on this one.  She didn't complete the weaves, which was her only error.  She had 1 wide turn and 1 spin after an (unplanned) rear cross, but was still about 8 seconds under course time, which I was very happy about!

The 3rd run is Standard from yesterday.  My head wasn't quite in it yet, and she took an early off course that I wasn't expecting at all.  So, I was able to try some things that I may not have otherwise.  The main one you can see is leaving her on the table.  She "mostly" stayed, at least long enough for me to get into position.  And I was really happy with how she handled the sequence from the tunnel after the table to the Aframe. 

Standard today isn't on the video.  She was VERY hyper...I was still fuzzy headed, you do the math!  I did leave her on the table again though, this time she stayed until released! 

Overall, I was very happy with her though.  I'm thrilled that she was able to Q on a Excellent level course (and come close on another one).  

April 2-Tampa Bay Agility Club, at KETCH

Lonya did very well today!  She qualified in Ex A JWW, for her second leg for her AXJ.  She ran really well, even though I can see that my handling still isn't quite right.  I was very happy that she got the turn into the weave poles!  Her standard run was better than they have been.  She had a couple of refusals, both on contacts.  I think I'm just assuming that she'll take them, and right now she still needs me to tell her to do them.  I was a little more firm about telling her to do the dogwalk, and she did that one fine.  And this is a trial site where she's not had very much success, so I was happy that she ran well there today.  Wish we were going back tomorrow!  

Here's her run...  

Lonya is Excellent now

Missed updates for 2 trials, but Lonya is now in Excellent A in both classes in AKC!  


We showed Vero Beach again at the end of February.  She was much more comfortable in the hotel this time, which was good.  She ran much better there also!  Had some good runs on dirt for the first time.  She Q'd in Standard on Friday, only ran around the table for her one refusal.  Her Jumpers run on Saturday was really nice also, I didn't support a jump enough and she ran around it and took another for an off course.  No videos from that weekend unfortunatley.  


Last weekend, we showed in Mulberry for 3 days.  I did email updates for that trial, so here they are!  (Cheating I know!)


Friday...
Lonya started out day 1 of our 3 days of agility meeting my goal for the weekend!  She Q'd in JWW today, for the 3rd leg needed for her OAJ!  Her standard run was nice, but she dropped a bar (only the second I can recall since we started showing) and did the table an extra time.  But, she had great contacts and weaves, and did go to the table when I sent her without running around it first.  In the last two weekends, she's really come into her own, and wow, is it fun!  


Sat...
Day two of the trial also went well.  Lonya qualified in Open Standard, for her 3rd Q, so she now has her OA!  She had 1 refusal, I need to get up in front of her better to direct her sooner.  Her contacts were good.  The teeter and dogwalk were great, the Aframe was good.  She can't quite seem to stop in the 2 on 2 off, but is stopping right when she gets off..which means that at least she's thinking about stopping! (much better than launching from 3 slats above the yellow!)


Her Excellent JWW debut was really good.  She didn't Q, but only had 1 refusal (I thought I could beat her down a line of jumps, I was wrong!).  When I fixed it, she knocked the bar (wasn't a great set up).  The course was TOUCH, not many dogs Q'd at all, across all of Excellent.  She did really well with all of the "handling" areas, except the first time I had to wrap her...I think she thought we were done already!


Sun...
Lonya didn't Q today, but that's okay!  She still had a great weekend.  Her standard run was a bit of a mess, it was a tough, twisty course and it was just a little too much for her (and a lot of other dogs).  I need to work on tunnel/dogwalk discriminations!  JWW had some really good parts.  She held a 2 jump lead out wonderfully, than ran behind me instead of turning, silly girl!  But, she hit a weave entry that easily half the dogs missed...it didn't seem that difficult, but it was (it wasn't quite a 180 into the weaves, but it was close).  She ran around the last jump also.  We need to work on collection and turning too!

Here are a few videos from the IPOC weekend

Last weekend's trial

I did one day of CPE last weekend, Saturday only (Sunday I went to the Daytona 500, great race, great time!!)

I entered Lonya in 3 runs, just for more exposure.  She Q'd in Jackpot, where she got the "harder" distance challenge (even though I tried to send her to the easy one...I ended up quite far away from her at the end).  She worked with me okay after that, and did a nice dogwalk contact.  Her first Standard run was pretty good.  Good DW and Aframe, but bailed on the teeter.  Some baby dog errors too.  Second Standard was okay, until the end.  She just wouldn't take the Aframe, she was stuck in the tunnel vortex.  I ended up downing her and taking her out...

Sparrow did great again!  She Q'd 4 out of 5, and now only needs 11 legs for her C-ATCH.  Her only NQ was in Jackpot, she was VERY close though.  She got the distance no problem, but it was a hard course for use to get enough points on.  She missed the down contact on her Dogwalk, and we ended up 3 points short.  She Q'd in both Standard runs, even though she was slow.  It was hot (for her) and she was pokey.  Especially in the weaves!  And, she did look at the judge a few times (she's a friend of ours!).  Wildcard was okay, I had to ask her to weave twice, since I didn't like the 3rd #2 option.  I normally wouldn't ask her for 2 sets of poles.  And her snooker run was very nice.  I was able to plan a pretty smooth course for her, and we needed to get through #6 in the ending to Q.  She got all the way through though, so Q'd no problem.

Here's the video!



Here's what she needs for her C-ATCH...

3 Jackpot
3 Jumpers
2 Standard
1 Colors
1 Snooker
1 FullHouse

There are 2 trials in April...I can't do all the days of both (silly work gets in the way).   But, if she runs perfect (in Jackpot and Jumpers at least), she could C-ATCH at the second one.  Very exciting.  I know I'll cry when she does it...and I hope that Kal will be watching.

Agility this weekend

Lonya and I had 2 days of agility in Vero Beach this weekend.  It was a new trial site for both of us, under cover on dirt.  She hasn't run well on dirt so far, but did somewhat better this weekend.

Friday her JWW run had a REALLY nice ending but she had a couple of refusals and didn't get her weaves.  She ran with me for the most part though, which was good.  (She did have to go sniff the judge once).

Sat JWW was also pretty nice, she had some refusals, but did her weaves.  No visiting though.

Friday Standard was a mess.  She was not focussed at all.  I struggled through it, but at some point I need to decide if pulling her should be an option...she never really settled in to work for this run.

Sat Standard was better, a little bit a least.  I got a little more harsh with my voice when she started acting squirrely, and she settled a bit.  She did her Aframe contact (both days actually), but totally flew off the teeter (coming out a tunnel to it).

I was a little frustrated on Friday after Standard.  I know she can do this stuff, and that she just needs more exposure to trials, but I do wonder if I'm pushing too hard.  She doesn't seem to be stressing, more just doing her own thing.  I am interested in seeing if it's just the dirt or more than that...our next trial is on dirt, then a couple on grass.

We had our first motel stay, and she did pretty well.  She was pretty clingy in the room, wanting to sleep ON me instead of just near me.  But, Sparrow and Cheyenne are both pretty good travelers so I'm sure that helped.

Catching up

I haven't been updating the blog very well!  Things have been busy, which is good.  This has been one of my only weekends where I don't have dog stuff...and I find myself torturing myself by re-reading all the stuff I wrote about Kal.  I still miss that dog every single day...  It will get easier at some point, I know.  It has too.  But, it still hurts a lot, and I feel gypped that I lost out on so much time with him, he was taken from me far too young.  I still feel a pain when I see a male GSD...of any color.  I really miss having one.

I'm waiting on Lonya's OFAs to come back.  I'll call them again next week to see if her results are in.  I hope it's my turn to have some good luck.  I really want to have a litter.  She's progressing in agility.  She hasn't Qd in a couple of trials, but some of her runs have been close.  She stands at 2 OAJ legs and 1 OA leg.  We do our first overnight trial next weekend, where we'll stay in a hotel for a night.  Not sure what she'll think of that!  I plan to have a crate ready in case she can't settle!

Sparrow got her NA a couple of weeks ago.   She needs one leg for her NAJ.  Not sure I'll do much more AKC with her after that.  I think she'll stick with CPE.  She's doing great there, we did 1 day of CPE last weekend and she Qd 4 out of 5, running really well!  Lots of fun for her.  We need 15 more legs for her C-ATCH, then I think I'll just stay in level 5 with her and go for her C-ATCH 2 (or not, just let her play around).

Here's the video from that day...




I need to be better about keeping up with this...fingers crossed that I do it!